Concern about school

[MabelsBeats]

DC is at boarding school and I am worried in case it’s going to fold.

DC is really happy at the school, I’m happy with the school, however…

There are 30 in DCs year, a big intake is usual at the start of Y9 to swell the ranks, but this hasn’t happened.

A large number of teachers have left.

DC now has the same teacher for more than one subject.

Charity commission reporting is late.

There are a couple of other things, but I don’t want to identify the school, and have name changed for this.

I don’t know what to do for the best. I don’t know any other parents well enough to ask them what their view is, and I don’t want to approach the school necessarily as I’m sure they would just say that everything is fine.

The nightmare scenario is that it shuts partway through GCSEs or A levels.

Any suggestions as to how to do more digging to find what’s really going on, whether I’m worrying about nothing or whether there might be an issue?

@MabelsBeats , is your dd currently in year 9?

DC is in year nine, yes.

I would move her, or give notice to move her at end of Y9. Though it sounds like there might be an imminent announcement - late filing with the charity commission is not good.

So is this a school that has both a year 7 and a year 9 entry point with about 50% in each, but this year there have been v few Year 9 entries? If so that does sound odd and as though maybe there are wider concerns about sustainability.

30 in a year group is very small and whilst that might make for a soft landing at senior school I would be concerned about financial resilience and viability of their offer. Staff teaching multiple subjects might not bother your DC but as GCSEs come closer you might feel differently. It's hard to advise but perhaps you should observe closely this year and take a view when GCSE options are being decided, whether the school is able to meet your and your DC's hopes and expectations- if not, that could be a red flag.

Thank you very much for the advice.

We will keep on for now, but will look at other schools as well, with a view to us needing to decide by Easter (if a decision is not made for us in the meantime).

I think in excess of 20 teachers left at the end of last year, and about 6-8 have come in as replacements.

Personally for an independent I would expect specialist teachers for all subjects.

@pancakesandsunshine a friend of mine teaches in a boarding school. He's not even a qualified teacher!

Good grief!

@pancakesandsunshine I agree. He had a degree in his subject from Cambridge, but no formal teaching qualification! He might have one now. But he didn't for the first few years. And these parents are paying mega bucks!

No teaching qualifications wouldn’t bother me if they have a degree/suitable subject experience and teach well.

Not replacing teachers and late CC reporting would concern me. A local ish independent recently closed with very short notice but its sister school were able to take pupils which softened the blow even though not ideal.

That’s quite normal in private schools, I thought. I know a few who teach in secondary schools who don’t have teaching qualifications, or even a degree in one case.

"No teaching qualifications wouldn’t bother me if they have a degree/suitable subject experience and teach well. "

That's the thing. Teaching is a learned skill. Very few people can teach well without training. And even those that can still need polishing up.

Also, independent schools usually pay less than state teachers.

OP: if I were you I'd look to move you DC to another school.

20 teachers leaving simultaneously is a sign that something is going badly wrong.

You may feel loyalty to an old system but that time is gone. Your priority is with the success of your child. Your DC might not want to move schools, but the kinder long term choice would be to move sooner rather than later. Let them move before the end of y9 to be able to settle and then really succeed in y10 & 11.

I had to move my DC at the very end of last year. We didn't want to have to move him, but the school had been throwing up red flags and absolutely no signs of impending improvement. And he has been happier for it. but that's just a state comp

I think you should be looking for a new start in January.

How many are there in current Yr10? And what about in current Yr8? If the same thing happens next year, then 60 children across GCSEs just doesn't seem viable.
Also, what happens about sport, drama, music and all of those other things? Much greater chance of selection but I doubt the sports team would be that competitive

I am going to guess that year 10 has about 40-45.

The years below DC are (according to DC) smaller than they were last academic year, lots of talk of ‘only (say) 15 boarders in year 7/8’.

Just checked and charity reporting remains well overdue.

Oh crikey OP - serious red flags there. As PPs have said that level of staff turnover - and incomplete replacement is very unusual in a viable school. With VAT looming, I'd say it's on it's last legs. We've had a number of school close around here over the last few years - the signs seem similar, I am sorry to say :-(

Thank you sincerely to all who kindly advised.

DC is coming out of the current school in July. And it feels a relief. Even her lovely housemistress is leaving this summer, it’s emptying out 😟

I'm glad to hear that OP. Best of luck to your DD in her new school

I would move her-too many red flags. Better a controlled exit than a scramble.

Glad to hear your child will be leaving. My friend who attended a boarding school said that so many sexual things happen behind closed doors. Lots of his friends were experimenting with each other, enjoyed the experience and are now gay. He said boarding school can be such an awful institution and that children need their (good) families. I know that's only one account but just thought I'd add

Ha, teens are experimenting sexually whether they’re at boarding school or not! There are many reasons why boarding school might be considered ill-advised, but teens being teens isn’t one of them.

They were sharing dorms, some of the older kids would rape the younger boys. This became a regular pattern of behaviour. The abused would internalise it as sexually arousing and whole repeat the abuse cycle. Not exactly normal teen behaviour

Some schools start some of the GCSE work at the end of Y9, so if your DC is going into Y10 in a new school (which I think is what is happening from your posts) you might want to check about this in case it would be helpful to look at anything over the summer.

That’s not experimenting, which is how you phrased it, that’s abuse.

Would you share the school via DM? I’m slightly concerned it might be the school we are looking at for DD 😬